NASCAR crew at Kansas Speedway has connection to MIT officer killed

Driver Jimmy Johnson talks about team member's loss

UPDATED 5:38 PM CDT Apr 19, 2013

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -

The MIT police officer killed during the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was the brother of a machinist for Hendrick Motorsports, bringing the events of this past week closer to home for NASCAR teams already rallying around the tragedy.

Sean Collier, who began working for Massachusetts Institute of Technology about a year ago, was found shot to death late Thursday in his vehicle in Cambridge, Mass. Police have said Collier was responding to a report of a disturbance when he was shot about 10 miles west of Boston.

His brother, Andrew Collier, has been working for Charlotte, N.C.-based Hendrick Motorsports since 2008. He works in the engine shop and is not part of the team that travels to the track each week.

"It was his brother, Andrew Collier's brother Sean, who was tragically killed last night," said NASCAR driver Jimmy Johnson at the Kansas Speedway on Friday. "There's still a lot of questions going on, there's still a lot of chaos taking place...It's a very sad time, my thoughts and prayers are with the collier family."

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